Merry Christmas, Max
by wishihadwings
Summary: little christmas oneshot. FAX. Illa.


**Disclaimer: I don't own MR. Yet.**

The gorgeous fir tree stood triumphantly in the center of the room. Tiny white lights reflected off the ornaments, making them sparkle as they turned from the branches. Gifts littered the ground, and cheery holiday music played as the smell of Iggy's cooking wafted in from the kitchen. Christmas Eve. And yet here I sat on the couch, hating every second of it.

The glitz, the music, the happy buzz; the only thing it did was remind me of the simple times when we celebrated Christmas at our house, with Jeb back in the mountians. The memories hurt my head. Not in the brain-explosion way, but they hurt enough for me to succumb and fall asleep on Fang's lap, while my mother broke out her ancient camera and took pictures, which she later placed in an album titled "Awwww!!". So as you can imagine, that only made me angrier.

My mom had taken the younger kids out for some last minute shopping, leaving me, Fang, Iggy, and Ella behind to finish things up at home.

Iggy and Ella were in the kitchen "cooking". But judging by the noises I was hearing, they weren't cooking food. But still wallowing in self pity over the picture thing, I didn't really care what they were doing. The only thing I did have an opinion about was the fact that I was still cradled in Fang's lap, and we hadn't said a word to each other in about an hour.

Finally though, the great Mr. Rock graced me with his speech; " Would you cheer up?" he grumbled, " I know it's hard, but just think of all the ways things could be worse. And besides," one corner of his mouth went up in a crooked grin, " I think you'll like your present."

"Do I have a choice?" I said half-heartedly. Then I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They were deep and full of caring. Even the weird gold flecks glistened with a passion that my now-shorted-out brain could not comprehend.

Any mental constraints I had built myself completely collapsed, and I buried my head into his chest, allowing his strong arms to enclose around me. I guess I must have been really tired, since I fell asleep AGAIN. This time, the last thing I remembered was Fang carrying me to my room, and gently laying me down on the bed. Then, with a kiss on my forehead, he whispered, "G'night Max,", then left.

"SNOW!" The Gasman's happy voice drifted into my room, "It's actually SNOWING on Christmas!"

And so Christmas arrived with all the splendor it was supposed to arrive with, or so I'd gathered from watching ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas for all 25 days.

While the kids tore into the gifts, I sat next to Fang instead of on his lap. I felt kind of bad for squishing him the day before. His arm went around my shoulders, as his hand found mine.

I was glad that Ella had let me put my name on all the gifts that she gave. I never would have known that Nudge had wanted an "Aeropostal" gift card. I didn't even have the slightest clue as to what the H an "Aeropostal" even was.

The only gifts I actually gave were an Ipod for Iggy, a stuffed animal for Angel, and a super-shmancy new camera for Fang. And of course, it was all paid for with Jebs "stolen" credit card. I figured he owed us for all the pain he had caused. This didn't even begin to make up for it.

These are the things I got:  
1. pair of sneakers from Nudge  
2. bracelet from Angel  
3. jacket from my mom  
4. a doughnut from Gazzy (guess he forgot about me until the last minute?)  
5. and some weird-yet-delicious food from Iggy that was called "Pocky"

Notice who's missing? Yes. Fang. Twerp thought he could get out of paying me back for the camera huh? A bit angry, I stalked away to find him listening to his headphones under a doorway.

I marched up, ready to interrogate about the Case of the Missing Christmas Gift, but he took my arm and looked up, smiling. I followed his gaze. Mistletoe. And I was trapped. Well crap.

I couldn't help myself, I leaned just close enough to hear him whisper, "Merry Christmas Max", right before we shared a kiss that will never be forgotten. And I forgave him.


End file.
